Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley has made a bold prediction about the future of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the wealth management industry. Horsley believes that these ETFs will see a significant increase in their holdings, aligning with the general market belief that there is a growing demand for such investment vehicles. This prediction comes at a time when Bitcoin ETFs are expected to gain even more traction following the halving event.
Currently, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) is closing in on Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), with only a $2 billion difference in assets. If this trend continues, BlackRock could potentially surpass Grayscale as the world’s largest Bitcoin fund. GBTC, on the other hand, has experienced a 68-day period of decline, losing nearly $16 billion and reducing its assets to $19.4 billion.
In contrast, IBIT has been experiencing continuous asset growth and currently has approximately $17.3 billion in total assets. However, Grayscale’s spot Bitcoin ETF has seen notable capital outflows. In the past five days alone, investors have withdrawn $89.9 million, contributing to a net outflow of $1.6 billion since January.
Despite Grayscale’s early lead, its dominance in the Bitcoin ETF market seems to be diminishing. Fidelity and BlackRock have quickly gained substantial market shares since the beginning of trading. For example, Fidelity and BlackRock Bitcoin ETFs saw net inflows of $37.3 million and $18.7 million, respectively, in the same week, which has helped alleviate some liquidity issues in the market.
Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley describes the adoption of Bitcoin ETFs by registered investment advisers (RIAs) and multifamily offices as “stealthy but significant.” He notes that major financial institutions are discreetly conducting thorough assessments of the Bitcoin market.
According to Farside data, GBTC saw outflows of $17.5 million on April 10, a significant decrease from the $154.9 million outflows recorded on April 9. The previous low was on February 26, when GBTC outflowed $22.4 million. The average daily outflow of GBTC since January is $257.8 million.
GBTC was launched in 2015 and converted to an ETF in January, along with the launch of nine other spot Bitcoin ETFs after Grayscale won a lawsuit against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. This forced the SEC to review a GBTC conversion bid that it had previously denied.
In other news, bankrupt crypto lending firm Genesis recently sold approximately 36 million GBTC shares in order to acquire 32,041 Bitcoin.
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